Joe Biden Arms His Cabinet Under Pressure From The Progressive Wing Of The Democratic Party

Paula lugones

11/13/2020 8:34 PM

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 11/13/2020 8:34 PM

Joe Biden doesn't have it easy at all.

He must face a president who has lost the elections and remains entrenched in the White House, denying him a transition as the law requires.

At the same time, the president-elect must look ahead and form his cabinet as a great tightrope walker: representative of the most centrist and moderate sector of the Democratic Party,

of his own group, which urges him to elect several of your representatives in the government to carry out a more center-left agenda.

Two major progressive groups, the Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats, presented Biden this week with a list of 13 names as potential ministers including, but not limited to, Senator Elizabeth Warren as Secretary of the Treasury and Senator Bernie Sanders on the Labor portfolio. .

Also to the Nobel Prize in Economics Joseph Stiglitz - mentor of Argentine Minister Martín Guzmán at Columbia University and adviser to the Kirchner government - as possible head of the National Economic Council.

In addition, these groups called on Biden to establish a special office dedicated to climate change that reports directly to the president to give a high profile to the fight against global warming.

Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the figures on the most center-left wing within the Democratic Party.

Photo: BLOOMBERG

This presentation marked

, who had been united after the primaries with the common goal of defeating Donald Trump.

Possible friction 

James Thurber, a professor of Government at the American University, told

that “the party will have serious tensions between the two sectors.

While Biden has a pragmatic centrist willingness to engage and work with a variety of factions, that will be a problem with the sector further to the left. "

And he predicted that there may be friction on issues such as the fight against the coronavirus, the economy, racial justice, health care and tax reform not only with divisions in the party but also with Republicans in the Senate.

The landscape facing Biden is complicated.

He did not win a landslide and it is estimated that he will have to deal much more than he thought with Republicans in Congress, who may still hold a majority in the Senate.

Senator Elizabeth Warren's name sounds like a possible Secretary of the Treasury.

Photo: EFE

In addition, the Democrats

and in that sense there are bill passes: the moderate Democrats say it was because the progressives had too radical proposals that scared the independents and the more leftists argue that it was because Biden he had a typical establishment speech.

It is estimated that it

who have been systematically identified by Trump as “radical socialists” - at the level of the Castro regime or Nicolás Maduro - although their ideas would rather fit with those of a social democratic government.

Biden must strike an extreme balance with his cabinet.

First, there is the battle for the Senate that is not yet defined because it depends on the results of the Georgia election on January 5, which will confirm whether the upper house remains in the hands of the Republicans or there is a virtual tie that would define the Vice President Kamala Harris.

The issue is not minor because the early designation of Warren or Sanders could have an impact on that state election and could end the Democratic aspirations to regain the Senate.

Furthermore, most ministers are nominated by the president, but must be approved by the Senate.

If it remains in Republican hands, names like Warren or Sanders will hardly pass.

Another issue is that they are both senators and their possible exit from the upper house to go to the cabinet does not guarantee that they will be replaced by someone from their party since the states they come from have Republican governments and it is not clear how the vacancy would be filled.

So far the president-elect has chosen only the chief of staff position, which will go to Ron Klein, a veteran Democrat who worked with him when he was vice president, a position that does not need ratification by the Senate.

The rest is subjected to an in-depth analysis and of those that sound, there are rather few progressives.

Consulted by

, Vincent Hutchings, professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, showed an optimistic approach.

“The most progressive wing and the most centrist wing can coexist.

This is partly because the 'centrist' wing, presumably represented by Biden, is not so centrist.

In some respects, including healthcare, taxes and the environment, Biden is the most liberal Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson.

So, although there are differences between the two positions, they are not as great as supposed ”.

In addition, the expert added, “the two parts of the Democratic coalition had their opposition to Trump to reduce their differences.

Now that the president has been defeated, they still have common goals, such as addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

So overall, I hope they work together effectively in managing Biden. ”

Washington, correspondent

CB

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